Kludge Studio

Equipment:

Canon sx160is Powershot.
Small piece of exposed negative.
MX 3000 tripod, with homemade mount and cable trigger.
Neewer TT560 speedlight
6-1/2' stepladder. (for speedlight mount)
A couple of old bed sheets.
A $7 styrofoam head from Hobby Lobby, painted with $1 flat acrylic paint
1 4x8 panel of styrofoam insulation, cut in two 4x4 halves.
1 incandescent directional lamp with 60W bulb. (found on side of road and repaired)
Plastic panels cut from 1 gallon water bottle.

"Digital Photography Lighting for Dummies" by Dirk Fletcher
"Beyond Snapshots" by Rachel Devine and Peta Mazey
Both books from the library.

As you can see, (big grin) I spared no expense equipping this one man classroom environment.

LESSONS LEARNED TODAY

I learned quickly that the Neewer works great, and there is a wide range of flash power. Wow.

If you don't turn off the automatic stuff in the camera, the speedlight makes little difference. It's when you get into "P" mode, and start playing, that you see differences.

You MUST block the light from the window(s). ANY sunlight overwhelms your artificial lighting effects. Venetian blinds just don't git it. Heavy curtains are a must.

I MUST start keeping a log of what I am doing. At my age (65), CRS (can't remember stuff) is a problem.

Once n "P" mode, with the sx160is, in a light controlled environment, and a tripod with a remote trigger, the camera does a lot of what the textbooks say a DSLR can do. Really exciting. For 1/3 the price of a Canon EOS T3 or a Nikon d3100 with a "kit" lense.

Irritation with my remote trigger design. I have to cut back the lower bar, where the inner cable is held by a set screw. Right now, it is blocking access to the camera's controls. Have to use a stylus. Inconvenient. That's the value of being a home shop machinist, Easy mod. Hacksaw. If I need more, I'll relocate the set screw and cable hole.

Tomorrow, more.

buffumjr wrote in post #15992066
Small piece of exposed negative.

unexposed but developed chrome film is what will hide the visible light (but let the UV through trigger a slave) from the on camera flash.

i've never tried it with negative film, would be interested to know if it really did the trick. i guess it seems like it would.

hes gone wrote in post #15992234
=he's gone;15992234]unexposed but developed chrome film is what will hide the visible light (but let the UV through trigger a slave) from the on camera flash.

i've never tried it with negative film, would be interested to know if it really did the trick. i guess it seems like it would.

One other post somewhere on this forum suggested a small piece of 3x5 card letting a small amount of the light sneak out one side. Many possibilities.

Used the menu to turn the flash to its minimum. Turned flash exposure compensation to -2. Spectacular result, particularly with the speedlight. Speedlight totally overwhelmed the frame, and it came out detailless white. That was with the speedlight in direct aim at full power, 18 inches away. I had to cut it to next to lowest, and flip down the built-in diffuser before I got facial details. Yeah, Flash Exp Comp, and speedlight settings. The pros on Youtube make it look sooooo easy.

No, this is not intuitive. Not by a long shot. It's experiment, record, experiment, record, and TRY to remember what you did, when. Sheesh! Learning the lathe and the mill was easier (but I'm still learning them, too. Probably always will be.)

Haven't even gotten to aperture and shutter speed control, yet. Focus?

Tomorrow, more.

buffumjr wrote in post #15992316
One other post somewhere on this forum suggested a small piece of 3x5 card letting a small amount of the light sneak out one side. Many possibilities.

the card will definitely let in some of the flash's light regardless of the setting. whether that's a problem is up to you.

i just did a little test with some old negative film. as suspected, it does let some visible light through. Is it enough to matter? well that depends on your camera/flash settings.

also you should be able to block out most ambient light with iso 100, 1/100 sec, f/5.6 and not have to worry too much about window light (unless the sun is shining straight in). i'm sitting in a room that is lit just well enough to read and those were my settings for the film/flash test. I could just barely see the white paper on my dark desk.

if you really want to get "serious", set up your shot, and start with just the on camera flash. then add one light to see the result. take that light away, and add in another light.

for instance, i'm kinda wondering if the 60 bulb would have much effect, if it did, you'd see a color temperature difference between it and the speedlights.

you'd be amazed what you can do with just one speed light and a couple of reflectors, white foam board, mirrors, cardboard wrapped in foil etc.

sounds like you're having fun, keep it up.

The "for Dummies" book suggested a session of going totally automatic, and trying direct sunlight. Try various sunshine angles, times of day, shade, etc. No complex settings, just use of light.

BTW, one of the display modes of the sx160is has a light meter result in it. I don't know anything about light meters. Hope the books have a chapter on it.

Sooo glad this is digital. The cost in film and time of 35mm ...

Having a little trouble finding how to control the aperture of the sx160is. Read and re-read the manual, pages 80-101, "P" mode. No luck. I can turn "Safety FE" off, but you still don't control the aperture directly.
Oh. I see. "AV" mode or "M" mode. THERE, you can control the aperture directly.

I'm not there, yet. Let's learn "P" first, then move on. BUT, my notebook now has these bits stored in it. Thanx.

buffumjr wrote in post #15995005
Let's learn "P" first, then move on.

I'd say that is actually a very bad idea. Program (P) mode give you a little more control then full auto mode (aka green box) but only if you understand what you're doing and why you're doing it.

To understand that you need to understand manual mode (M) and what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO each do and how that work together. Adding flash to that equation just makes life even more difficult because then shutter speed only effect the ambient exposure while aperture and ISO effect both the flash and ambient exposure and flash power and distance effect only the flash exposure.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and pick up a copy of "understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It is probably THE best book to help understand the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, and ISO). Once you understand that life become so much easier......not to mention once you understand manual mode flash photography becomes a lot easier because now you're telling your camera what to do and you're getting the results you want instead of the camera telling you what it wants to do and you hopping for decent results!

You're probably right.

When I bought my Commodore 64, in 1983, I wondered at the sophistication of applications for it. These were people who had been programming in minis and mainframes, so knew all the tricks. After a year of learning Basic, I graduated to C-64 Assembly, and really started to make it hum. That led to a 25 year career in computers.

OK, I'll plunge straight into "M". "P" gives you a taste of the control, but doesn't really let you use the whole thing.

I found "Understanding Exposure". Apparently there are two editions. I have the older edition on reserve at the library. Will go thru the two books I have, now while waiting. The new edition is "on order".

Glad I decided not to plunge into a DSLR right away. It's like buying a Celica GT, and aspiring to a Ferrari Dino, but then finding out you can't yet get all there is out of your Celica. Who knows what DSLRs will be abvle to do in a year!

your experience in basic will serve you well with learning exposure.

just as the best way to learn programing is starting with "hello world", in photography you start with the very basics and build on what you know.

the very basics are (not that you don't know this) aperture, shutter speed and ISO. In the days of film, you were stuck with one ISO until the roll of film was burned. If you are not COMPLETELY familiar with those three elements, i'd suggest you leave the camera on one ISO speed (200 or 400 probably) and do nothing but change the aperture and SS to observe the differences.


then add the off camera flash, get a decent exposure then change the shutter speed from 200 to 100 and see what happens.

buffumjr wrote in post #15995734
I found "Understanding Exposure". Apparently there are two editions. I have the older edition on reserve at the library. Will go thru the two books I have, now while waiting. The new edition is "on order".

There are actually three editions at this point. The 1st edition was released in the early 90's prior to the digital revolution. The relationship between aperture, ss, and ISO is the same no matter if you're shooting film or digital just know that some of the info in the book might be a bit dated.

Bryan Peterson was a huge "natural light only" advocate for a long time but has since come to love flash photography and has release a flash basics book as well called "understanding flash photography". It's not as good as understanding exposure but is still a good book for anyone learning flash......just makes sure you read and understand "understanding exposure" first.

Things can seem over whelming with photography at first but once you understand the basics it becomes quite easy

The book on order is the 2004 edition. The one in "can't get" status is the 2010 edition. The blurb with the listing says the 2004 is for digital and film.

Yes, I'm having fun.

Tried "M" mode, cranking f/ way down and speed way up. Shot my foot in a sun-lighted room. My foot appeared, but all beyond it was dark and indistinct. ISO 100. Tomorrow will work in my studio with all this. Reading tonight.

Will do some outside shooting, too.

There's a pro photographer a couple of miles away. If I don't ask TOO many questions, he's a resource. Said he would be. I am supposing as long as I don't interefere with his paying customers.

Went to BAM and bought "Digital Photo" and "Petersen's Photographic" magazines. "Digital Photo" has an article, "The Garage Studio". Will read, tonight.

Am finding the "For Dummies" book has a good discussion of shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. Paying close attention.

Rained in, today. Ah, Florida. At least not in OK, TX, or AR. Lots of tornados this year. But then, we get hurricanes.

Quick question. What's a Guide Number for a remote light source? Is it all one standard, or is it in metric or feet and inches?

Researched Guide Number. I was pleased to find that the Neewer I bought has the same GN as the Nikon SB700, and costs 1/8 the price. Of course, the SB700 has i-TTL, and the Neewer doesn't.

Enuff reading. Tomorrow, into the Kludge studio. Will take good notes.

buffumjr wrote in post #15999566
Quick question. What's a Guide Number for a remote light source? Is it all one standard, or is it in metric or feet and inches?

It can be stated in either feet or meters. For instance, a guide number of 160 in feet at ISO 100 would properly expose a subject 10 feet away with an aperture of f/16 (guide number divided by distance-to-subject equals f-number).

Did studio time. Trying to work out a notes system. In rifle marksmanship, your shooting book has blocks with certain standardized fields you quickly fill out. What rifle. Wind speed, direction, light, mirage, initial sight settings, sight corrections, ammunition used, date, range facility, range to target. On slow fire, how you "call"" each shot. A big target where each shot lands. Score. All this helps you recognize issues with your "steady hold" factors. Helps you set up quickly, in your 3 minute prep period, with the correct sight settings.

A lot of this would be useful for camera work.

Ambient light guess. Distance from camera to model. Gel(s) used. Grids, snoots, softboxes, hot lights, speedlights, strobes, and their angles and distances. Background color, texture, etc. Camera settings, ISO, f, shutter speed, white balance used. Lense. Zoom on that lense. Filters. Soooo much to record. Sooo glad I'm starting simple.

Was in AUTO mode, firing in the dark, with on-camera flash, and the Neewer. Made some paper slips with numbers on them, like in the CSI TV show. Now, I can identify which picture I'm looking at.

Found out that inside, AUTO mode is a waste of time for learning.

The camera's eye recognition firmware triggers on the painted eyes on my styrofoam head. Good.

Made a cardboard flash block, with a small slot cut into it. Almost no effect on the shot, but triggers the Neewer. Slot 1/8" x 3/8". On board flash set to minimum. With the slot blocked, shot in total darkness, you get featureless black. Painter's tape is wonderful. Doesn't goo up anything.

Tonight, working in AV and M mode. With the light on.

Would be spending a fortune in film if 35mm, and feedback loop would be SLOW.